Ceasefire at Gaza to Begin as Scheduled on 19th..."First Hostage Release at 4 PM"

Israel Expected to Approve Ceasefire Plan
at Full Cabinet Meeting on the 18th

A ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian armed faction Hamas in the Gaza Strip is expected to be implemented as scheduled from the 19th.

On the 17th (local time), the Israeli Prime Minister's Office stated that despite delays in finalizing negotiations and government approval, hostages will be released from the Gaza Strip as planned on the 19th, according to the local daily Times of Israel.

In a statement that day, the Prime Minister's Office said, "If the ceasefire agreement receives approval from the Security Cabinet and the full Cabinet and comes into effect, the planned release of hostages can proceed according to the outlined schedule," adding, "Three female hostages will be released on the 19th."

The newspaper added that the Security Cabinet meeting is currently underway and the full Cabinet is expected to approve the ceasefire negotiations at a meeting on the evening of the 18th.

In this regard, Israel's Channel 12 News reported that the first hostage release will take place at 4 p.m. on the 19th.

Additionally, the broadcast stated that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas is scheduled to take effect at 12:15 p.m. on the same day.

Local media Ynet reported that the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released under this ceasefire agreement is expected to be disclosed after the Cabinet meeting that morning.

Israel and Hamas finalized the ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange negotiations for the Gaza war the previous night in Doha, Qatar.

The mediators, Qatar and the United States, announced on the 15th that both sides agreed to a three-stage ceasefire, which includes a 6-week (42-day) halt in hostilities and the exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners, with permanent ceasefire discussions to follow, scheduled to take effect from the 19th.

Israel had originally planned to hold a Cabinet meeting the previous day to ratify the ceasefire plan but postponed the Cabinet vote, claiming that Hamas broke part of the agreement at the last minute.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.